Welly I never..it’s a normal summer

Welly I never..it’s a normal summer

So say weather experts, who insist that the statistics prove their case.

They say the heatwave of 2006 has given us all the wrong idea about what our summers are usually like.

That year, the temperature hit a scorching high of 97F (36C) and we had just 3.7in of rain in June and July. The average temperature in 2006 was 16.5C (62F). The usual average is around 14C (57F), which is what we have had this summer.

And when it comes to rain, we have actually had less than last year – 7.4in, compared with 10.6in in 2007.

Met Office forecaster Helen Chivers said: “It’s possible people are remembering the summer of 2006 as how it should be. But that isn’t necessarily so.”

“But while this week has been particularly lousy, June was quite dry and sunny.”

Yesterday, rain and high winds caused more chaos across the country. A girl of five died in hospital after falling in the swollen river Neet in Stratton, Cornwall.

Three men were rescued from the roof of their car after getting stranded in a ford near Grantham, Lincs.

And floods in Scotland left cars underwater and caused a mini landslide in Fife.